Governor Peter Shumlin 109 State

Governor Peter Shumlin

109 State Street, Pavilion

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Dear Governor Shumlin

I am writing to you in order to express the concern of the people of Vermont on the current Socio-economic, political, legal and cultural issues, Self-determination, land resources, current adoption/foster care programs of Native American Children and Native American people in Vermont and throughout the United States. First of all I must commend you for your effort in upholding the Constitutional and Civil Rights of Native American Indians. Your kind gesture and action of signing legislative bills in April 22nd, 2011 that officially recognized two Abenaki Bands; the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation and the El Nu Abenaki Tribe is very commendable. This latter is however meant to bring to your attention the need for regulating the activities in the adoption/foster care programs of Native American Children and Native American people in Vermont and throughout the United States. The aim is to protect the children from abuse and murder as has been the case as noted by Kevin Annett ( The Alex Jones Channel,2011).

The unfair and unjust foster care system

Governor, it is very clear that they current foster care system is a sham since instead of helping the native children, it steals them from their families as well as culture (ICTMN,2011).This allegation is supported by the investigation conducted by National Public Radio that indicated that close to seven hundred Native American children from South Dakota were forcibly removed from their homes and then subsequently placed in foster homes yearly. In the U.S., the Native Indian children make up about 15% of the total children population and yet they account for close to 50% of the children in American foster homes. Another disturbing reality is that close to 90% of the children in foster homes in the U.S. are placed in homes that are owned by non-Natives as indicated in NPR's state record analysis (Sullivand & Walters,2011).

Governor, then Indian Child Welfare Act which was passed by the U.S. congress in 1978 categorically mandated that every state must make efforts of placing Indian children with their relatives or a member of their tribes. The same legislation also mandated that the state first make attempts aimed at keeping a given family together with various programs and services. Clearly this is not the case even in Vermont. The NPR report also indicated that a large number of Native adults who already acquired legitimate Indian Welfare license don't have any kids being sent to them by foster homes. The kids are instead being sent to non-Native homes (Sullivand & Walters,2011).

The key findings of the NPR investigation are what perplexed me. I believe you should constitute a commission of inquiry into the matter and find out if the allegations below are fact or fiction.

The NPR investigation published a series of allegations that if indeed are true then you should come up with a remedial action aimed at correcting the situation in Vermont.The first allegation is the every year a large number of Native American children (700 in South Dakota alone) are forcibly removed from their homes and taken into foster care system. What is more surprising is that the Native children make up to 50% of children in the foster care system even though they form part of 15% of the entire U.S. population. The second allegation that your should inquire and possible correct is that despite the fact that the Indian Child Welfare Act stating that Native American children be put up with family members, their relatives or even other Native Americans, most of them are sent to homes of people from other races. The third allegation is that close to 90% of the Native American children who are sent to various foster homes are placed in group care or homes of non-Natives. The fourth allegation is that less than 12% of all Native American children in the state of South Dakota foster care system have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse. The Native American children continue to suffer from this modern-day version of forced assimilation (Ennis,2011).

Governor, I believe you have the power, influence and authority of spearheading the actualization of the proposal to amend the State Recognition Bill that also includes the adoption of the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples to protect the Abanaki tribe and other Native tribes. I must once again commend you for signing legislative bills in April 22nd, 2011 that officially recognized two Abenaki Bands; the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation and the El Nu Abenaki Tribe. That was a wonderful step towards realizing equality and justice to the Native tribes.

The current living condition on the reservations

Governor, the Office of Minority Health (2008) indicated that close to 40% of the nation's 4.9 million Native American population lives on reservations. The living conditions on these reservations are noted to be comparable to the one in Third World countries (NRC,2006). Some of the pressing issues that affects the Native Americans under your jurisdiction are economic problems (unemployment and poverty), health (lack of adequate health care facilities amid several health issues like diabetes) and poor housing (overcrowding and less than 50% are connected to the public sewer systems). There is also a need for truth and reconciliation commission to be constituted in each state in order to address the various historical injustices that have been meted against the Native Americans. The issues with housing have to be addressed by special housing tribunal.